Summary: SINERGEE: SIMULATION AND EXPLOITATION OF DATA FROM
METEOSAT-8 USING AN NWP MODEL
Richard P. Allan1
, Anthony Slingo1
, Sean Milton2
and Ian Culverwell2
1
ESSC, University of Reading, Harry Pitt Building, PO Box 238, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK
2
Met Office, Exeter, UK
ABSTRACT
Preliminary results will be presented from the SINERGEE project, which combines simulations from the Met
Office numerical weather prediction (NWP) model with data from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget
(GERB) instrument on Meteosat-8. Initial comparisons of broad-band outgoing longwave radiation (OLR)
and albedo show good agreement between GERB and the model, particularly over middle latitudes where
the moisture fields, and hence the diagnosed clouds, are well constrained by the assimilation of data by the
model. Despite initial problems with the GERB data, for example relating to geolocation uncertainty, errors in
model fields are identified. These include: (i) too much convective cloud over tropical Africa at mid-day, (ii)
lack of organisation of convective cloud, (ii) positional errors for the inter-tropical convergence zone, (iv)
underestimates in albedo over the Sahara and (v) overestimates in OLR by up to 50 Wm-2